License Status, Disciplinary and Administrative History

Below you will find all changes of license status due to both non-disciplinary administrative matters and disciplinary actions.

Date

License Status

Discipline

Administrative Action

Present

Disbarred

6/12/2014

Disbarred

Disbarment 12-N-16026

12/20/2013

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Ordered inactive 12-N-16026

2/25/2013

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Ordered inactive 12-N-16026

12/11/2012

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 12-N-16026

9/29/2012

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Discipline w/actual suspension 12-PM-12844

6/16/2012

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Discipline w/actual suspension 11-H-10679

6/9/2012

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Ordered inactive 12-PM-12844

4/13/2012

Petition/Application/Motion filed in SBCt 12-PM-12844

10/13/2009

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Suspended, failed to pass Prof.Resp.Exam 04-O-14531

7/1/2009

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Suspended, failed to pay Bar fees

10/4/2008

Active

7/6/2008

Not Eligible To Practice Law in California

Discipline w/actual suspension 04-O-14531

8/10/2007

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 07-H-11827

10/5/2006

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 04-O-14531

10/22/2003

Public reproval with/duties 01-O-04925

2/19/2003

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 01-O-04925

1/8/2001

Active

7/8/1998

Discipline, probation; no actual susp. 94-O-13646

4/24/1997

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 94-O-13646

4/3/1996

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 95-O-10619

12/20/1995

Notice of Disc Charges Filed in SBCt 94-O-18405

1/4/1967

Admitted to The State Bar of California

State Bar Court Cases

The listing below is partial, as the State Bar Court is transitioning to online dockets. Please refer to the License Status, Disciplinary
and Administrative History section above for a record of discipline cases. Case dockets and documents may be available using
the State Bar Court Search for a Case feature.

Discipline Summaries

Summaries from the California Bar Journal are based on discipline orders but are not the official records. Not all discipline actions have associated CBJ summaries. Copies of official licensee discipline records are available upon request.

July 8, 1998

MILTON KERLAN JR. [#39719], 57, of Santa Monica was suspended for one year, stayed, placed on two years of probation with conditions including restitution, and was ordered to take the MPRE within one year. The order took effect July 8, 1998.

Kerlan stipulated to misconduct in eight consolidated matters: five counts of gross negligence in the operation of his law office, and three counts of failing to cooperate with a bar investigation.

Kerlan was, in fact, the victim of a fraudulent law practice scheme created by three friends who appropriated his name.

A criminal defense attorney who practiced out of his home, Kerlan accepted an offer to use a friend's office for occasional meetings with clients. The friend also offered to provide secretarial services, when needed, without charge.

As a result, the friend gained access to Kerlan's stationary, business cards, retainer agreements and other crucial information about the law practice.

He and the other two friends then set up three separate law practices under Kerlan's name. They accepted clients, opened client trust accounts, settled cases and misappropriated client funds, all without Kerlan's knowledge.

At the same time, they referred some low-level criminal cases to Kerlan, who continued his practice of interviewing clients in jail or in the interview rooms at the courthouse. He rarely visited his friend's office, where an illegal law practice flourished.

Eventually, a criminal investigation was launched and all three men were convicted of insurance fraud.

Kerlan was never prosecuted because law enforcement officers concluded he was unaware of his friends' illegal activities. His signature had been forged on documents setting up bank accounts and on other papers.

His secretary told the authorities she was instructed by the non-lawyers to maintain separate files which were not to be shown to Kerlan. She became suspicious and notified the authorities when she realized clients were not receiving their funds.

Kerlan stipulated to gross negligence in the operation of his law office in relation to four clients who believed they had hired him to represent them.

In addition, he was contacted by bar investigators three times, but ignored the inquiries because he did not recognize the clients' names, thought the bar had contacted the wrong attorney and that the mistake would be corrected without his response.

Had he responded, his friends' illegal conduct could have been stopped earlier.

In mitigation, Kerlan has no record of discipline since his 1967 admission to the bar. He fully cooperated with law enforcement and provided information that led to the conviction of the three friends. He also had agreed to make restitution to one client, reimbursed the Client Security Fund for a claim it paid to another client, and paid a default judgment obtained by the doctor of a third client. Each of these clients was a victim of the friends' criminal activities.

The State Bar Court began posting public discipline
documents online in 2005.
The format and pagination of documents posted on this site may vary from the originals in the case file as a result
of their translation from the original format into Word and PDF. Copies of additional related documents in a case are
available upon request.
On May 31, 2019, the State Bar Court launched online case dockets.
If a case was open or filed on or after Feb 7, 2019, documents are being added online as events occur, and can be accessed with
the new Search for a Case feature.
Older case records are available on request.

DISCLAIMER:Any posted Notice of Disciplinary Charges, Conviction Transmittal or other initiating document,
contains only allegations of professional misconduct. The licensee is presumed to be
innocent of any misconduct warranting discipline until the charges have been proven.